Cercaria

cercaria

[sər′kar·ē·ə]

(invertebrate zoology)

The larval generation which terminates development of a digenetic trematode in the intermediate host.

Cercaria

the larva of parasitic worms of the class Trematoda. The body, which measures 0.3–1 mm in length, has an oral and a ventral sucker. Cercariae have a furcately branched intestine, a nervous system, sometimes ocelli, cephalic glands, and well-developed protonephridia. Typical of cercariae is the development of a tail, which is sometimes bifurcate (in furcocercariae) or equipped with lateral appendages.

The cercaria develops inside the preceding larval form, the sporocyst or redia, as a result of parthenogenesis. It leaves the body of the first intermediate host, a mollusk, and swims in water by means of its tail. It then penetrates the body of the second intermediate host, an invertebrate or frequently a fish, and becomes a metacercaria. The common liver fluke has no second intermediate host; the cercaria becomes encysted on coastal vegetation and is transformed into the next larval form, adolescarium.

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